The tail of two Willes!
I know it’s difficult but it would be nice if prehaps we could come to a definite conclusion, as far as possible, in regards to the practise of "upgrading" EM hats or any other item of black uniform for that matter because it’s seems, and pardon the rubbish joke, it’s a rather grey area.:)
From a purely technical point of view, I have no doubt that the modification was period done and expertly so. To me eye, the velvet wasn’t just merely sewn over the top like with others I have seen. This one seems a more skilled operation completely and I wonder, in the financial sense why it was considered feasable to do this when a brand new Officers hat from an RZM approved outlet was what? only around 12RM? That assuming that the original owner had to pay for the upgrade.. After all and we tend to forget this, it’s quite reasonable to assume that he maybe had a relation or friend with the skills who could have done it for free?
